Till Death and Beyond
by the Umbra
Summary: there's a new sorceress and a new threat and for once...the hero is the villian


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This was authored mainly by me with Irvine bits added by my dear friend Mel. It is alternate universe for certain, with Selphie having new powers and Irvine having gone through some interesting changes of his own. If things don't seem to make sense at first…just bear with me…they all will in time….I promise…this is only the beginning dear children…only the beginning. 

The headaches had started back when they had visited Purgatori. At the time, she'd been convinced that they were either the result of the emotional stresses she'd been under, or the extreme dimensional transfer they'd all taken. However as time had progressed, they had been steadily getting worse.   
  
At first she'd been able to control them with an ensuna, cast when no one was about. The pain would subside and she could go about her day without a reoccurrence for quite some time. Gradually however, they had become more intense and were occurring with greater frequency. The ensunas had quit working; curaga's didn't even help. The doctor in the infirmary had been able to give her a medication she could take that had seemed to help mildly in the beginning, but it too soon lost it's potency. She'd gone on however, keeping her cheery disposition intact despite the pain she was experiencing. More and more she spent time away from Garden, spending time with Luke or a few other friends she had made, but always studiously avoiding Irvine and Sergio as best she could. It was only at the end of the day, as she had always promised him, that Selphie would return to Garden, to the apartments she shared with Irvine, to spend the night in his arms.   
  
She knew that he was aware that her escapades had stopped, the very adventures he had encouraged her to experience. He would be able to smell it on her skin, his senses were so sharply attuned...but perhaps he would only assume that she had found other entertainments besides her intimate encounters with Luke and that was what was keeping her away so very much. She would stagger in, late at night, feigning exhaustion and find solace and comfort for a short time in Irvine's arms.   
  
Finally however, she had been unable to even rise from her bed to do more than stumble into the bathroom. Bracing herself against the vanity she peered at her reflection in the mirror. There were dark, shadowy marks across her skin and her eyes had a faded sickly greenish yellow cast to them instead of their normal vibrant green. She choked back a little sob as she regarded herself. Something was dreadfully wrong.   
  
As quietly as she was able she padded into the bedroom of their apartment and slid quietly back into bed next to Irvine. She pressed her back against his chest and murmured quietly as he wrapped his arms about her tiny frame, kissing her neck gently. He slept little and was easily wakened, but he slipped into the early morning routine they had established over the time they had been together. He snuggled up to her, running one hand through her hair, caressing her head gently. It was the only thing that eased the pain any longer, but she was so afraid to tell him, terrified that he would worry about her.   
  
She had good reason to be afraid. Deep in her heart she had a suspicion as to what was truly happening and if she were right it meant the end of everything...for them both.

His gentle stroking of her hair lulled her back to sleep slowly. Selphie never knew what it was about the way he touched her, but when he brushed her hair back from her face the way he was the terrible tearing pain that filled her head faded away and she was finally able to rest. Her last conscious act before she drifted off into an uneasy sleep was to twine her slender fingers about those of his free hand.   
  
Her dreams however brought her no respite. Images of women long since dead and gone, all marked with the distinctive black marks and golden eyes that indicated they were sorceresses. They all called out to her, outstretched hands imploringly reaching towards her, faces filled with pain and fear...filled with a longing for something they could not relate to her. She stood in their midst crying silently. She couldn't feel hatred nor animosity towards any of them, they had made her what she was, had given her, through their sacrifice, the power that made her a sorceress.   
  
_"What is this place? What are you trying to tell me? Please...you must tell me! If I can help you...I will. You suffered enough in life, you shouldn't have to suffer further...please tell me how I can help you.... "  
_  
The women would not answer however, the merely reached out to her as if from great distance before they faded from view, leaving her standing alone on a vast, empty plain. Looking about her, she was quite afraid of the vast emptiness for some reason. All about her a dense mist seemed to be coalescing, drawing near, solidifying. She turned and found that she was surrounded by it, a dark cloying wall of fog that was slowly encroaching on her position. Too terrified to move she found that she was without a voice.   
  
She wanted Irvine, somewhere deep inside she knew that he would be able to protect her from the darkness that was slowly creeping towards her, that he would be able to pull her from the terrible nightmare that seemed to be fast becoming an inescapable reality. Her terror continued to build as the mist drew nearer until at last it had surrounded her so much that she could no longer see, no longer breathe, no longer think...and in that instant she awoke.   
  
Breathing heavily she looked about the room. The clock near the bed indicated that she had been sleeping for more than a few hours, yet she felt as though she had only slept for a few moments. Irvine still lay beside her, his hand resting on her shoulder as he dozed lightly. Turning over she looked at him as he opened his eyes.   
  
"I don't feel good Irvy." She couldn't keep it from him any longer, she didn't even want to get out of their bed, and the pain had become that intense. "My head...it hurts all the time now and it only goes away when you rub it...nothing else works. I've tried everything..." Huge tears filled her eyes and streamed down her cheeks. Burying her face against his chest she felt his arms close soft about her tiny form, holding her close.   
  
"I'm so scared Irvy...what's happening to me...why am I dreaming of them...why are they coming to me?"

As he glanced down to kiss her forehead, he could see them. The distinct marks, though bruises at first... they were the markings that signified the growing dark power in each sorceress. Irvine's eyes fell closed as he sighed deeply, holding her tighter against him. Her sobs were like daggers, each tear hurting more than any weapon that could have touched him. She was changing. He'd sensed it from her before, noticed how she stayed further away from him as the aura of energy began to rise. Even in his arms he could see it, radiating almost like a great darkness.   
  
"Everything's gonna be ok, Sephie," he whispered; though his mind raced with doubts. Once a sorceress began the change, there was no going back. Even as strong as she was in mind, body, and spirit, he could see she was almost at her breaking point.   
  
With a bit of resistance he pulled her away, looking into her yellowing eyes with a great sadness. "Whatever happens," he said, his words so full of love and truth they almost hurt in their own way, "I will be your knight. Whatever it takes to make the pain go away... you do it, baby. I'll be right there with you every step of the way."   
  
They were the only words he could think to say. It was the energy that coursed through her that was hurting her and her need to hold it back. Even the best of people were hurt by evil... he refused to see his love suffer any more. He knew all too well what it would mean, if she accepted the change and did not look back. However, he had hope. Hope that even if she did become the thing the energy was forcing upon her... he could still keep a part of her and keep it strong with their love.   
  
Irvine touched her cheek, fingertip barely outlining the slowly surfacing marks around her face. "I love you, baby," he said, kissing her softly even as his own fears threatened to creep upon him. "No matter what, you have my support and love. Know that..."

"Irvine...." Selphie clung to him, her entire body trembling with the effort to even speak, "there's a reason for this, in my dream, I saw it. The sorceresses...they were trying to tell me...tell me something so important...but I couldn't hear them...they couldn't speak to me." Looking up at her love she tried to smile through her pain, to show him that she would be all right.   
  
"I can't hear them though...I think...I think that I won't be able to until I accept the change fully. I don't want to change though Irvy. I know I can beat this. I know I can...just...could you...could you make it go away? Like you always do?"   
  
She sighed as Irvine returned to brushing her hair back away from her face, the soothing gesture easing the pain that was lancing through her mind and beginning to spread into her body. When she had accepted the powers from Rinoa she had been certain she would be able to control them. She'd rarely used the power, and when she did, she channeled it carefully. Over any other sorceress she knew everything there was to know about the magic of their world, how to junction it, how to use it, how to channel it's energy through her without causing herself harm. She should have been able to control it...or so she thought.   
  
She hadn't been able to however. The power was growing within her and she felt a deep-seated need to use it, to take her power and level mountain ranges, burn forests, and destroy cities. It was frightening, yet it was an urge, a hunger she was helpless to resist.   
  
"Is...is blood like this Irvine? Does it make you crazy, the hunger and desire to have it?" As she lay there beside him her eyes had become glazed, her lids dropping heavily every time she blinked. "Does it control you and make you its' own willing slave, rewarding you when you serve your purpose, punishing you when you don't?"   
  
Raising her eyes to his once again she touched his cheek gently with one tiny hand. "Please don't tell the others Irvine...Squall will have me locked up somewhere, killed if I change...he's so devoted to the planet's safety. I don't want to die Irvine...I want to stay with you...like we planned. I know if they'd just...let me do what I need to do...they'd see...the sorceresses...they have to tell me their message...it's very important Irvine...they have to tell me their message..."   
  
She felt incoherent. The desire to lash out had gripped her fully and only Irvine's arms about her slender frame were keeping her from releasing the pent up energy there and then. As he gazed down into her eyes she smiled softly, her eyes finally drooping closed and remaining that way. She had slipped into another uneasy sleep, cradled in the arms of the man she loved, and all too soon she would awaken and begin fulfilling the destiny that she was slowly beginning to realize.

As she slept, he moved his hands along her face, easing the pain as she said only he could. Even as she slumbered, the bruise like lines were becoming darker. He held her closer, kissing her forehead as to not disturb her. It was true what she said. The blood was like a drug, and apparently so was the power in all sorceresses. Once used, the body, mind, and soul only clamored for more and more. It was a shock that her blood was not calling out to him as it should have been, though the aura of decadence was becoming a bit more enticing the more her body and heart embraced the subconscious change. The only thing that was able to knock him out of his state of enchantment was the sudden appearance of a body perched in his windowsill.   
  
"Be careful," Sergio said, his words barely a whisper. "That is a road far to dangerous to tread."   
  
Irvine sighed, glancing at him with that same heavy sadness only moments ago he gave to Selphie. "I can't leave her alone to it," he said back, words hushed even more. "I won't. She doesn't deserve that."   
  
Sergio nodded, still propped precariously on the window's frame. "The blood will become tempting," he said cautiously. "Far more than any blood you've ever sensed. Keep that in mind as you travel along your chosen path."   
  
"Don't say anything about this," Irvine warned. "Not to anyone... understand?"   
  
Sergio nodded, and in an instant was gone from view. Irvine held Selphie closer; glad she was still asleep, hoping among hope as he drifted off lightly that Sergio was wrong.   
  
He couldn't always be right....

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The woman who appeared before her was beautiful, her long dark hair cascading down her back, pulled aside by a soft errant breeze. She was the first sorceress, her name forgotten in the annals of time, but her beauty and power still lingering in Selphie's memory as the power of the sorceresses claimed her as one of it's own.   
  
"My dear child, you must not fear the darkness...it is as necessary as the air you breathe. You are honored, even though most will fear and loathe you...but the honor of serving Hyne as been passed down to you. You are His loyal subject, His devout little servant and because of your goodness and understanding of His will, you have been chosen to serve that balance which maintains all..."   
  
Selphie shook her head not understanding. "The sorceresses...they're villains...they destroy life..."   
  
"Death and destruction is a necessary part of life child. Throughout time the sorceresses have existed. When the balance between dark and light is even, the power is quiescent and the sorceress did not need to bring chaos into the world...but when the balance is shifted from one side to the other..."   
  
"Then the sorceress comes to balance it out again?"   
  
"Precisely." The gloriously beautiful woman smiled softly. "Such a bright child, it is easy to see why Hyne selected you not once...but twice. You my sweet child are the most promising of us all. You have both strength and training to withstand the warriors who will come against you. You have a knight who is your truest love...bound to you thusly he will protect and serve you always out of the strongest of all emotions, faithfully and with love rather than through fear and coercion. You must help bring balance back to our world....else all that is good and pure and wondrous about it shall be lost..."   
  
"But...I don't want to be bad." Selphie could feel the tears coursing down her cheeks. She didn't want to harm her friends, cause destruction and bring fear to an entire world. It went against everything she had ever believed it...everything she had ever fought for.   
  
"You are not bad. You are a servant of Hyne. Through your hands the cleansing fire of order shall bring balance back to this place. The dimensional torments that have wracked all space and time were focused in the end on this world. Those who dwell here now who do not belong shift the balance of light and dark too far to one side and as such the world changes. It grows lax and complacent unable to cope with the forces of a universe that could destroy this world should such evil come again. Our world's own natural balance must be re-established if the damage done by these immortals is to be undone. Child...in you rests not the destruction of your world...but the hope of it's growing stronger and more capable of growth and renewal."   
  
"I'll be all alone...everyone will hate me..."   
  
"Who truly loves you now, besides the man in whose arms you now lay? Would any of the others give up their lives for you? Have they before...risked all that you might live, when you have done the same for them?"   
  
"I--I don't know..."   
  
The woman approached her, taking her face between her hands. "Little one, do not misunderstand, in their way they do care for you, but their love for you will never be as complete as your lover's is. He will stay by your side and protect you always and together...together the two of you will give this world the challenge and growth that is so necessary to it's continued development. Many sorceresses before you went mad with lust for power and control; YOU are sweet and good...use that to your advantage. Select your targets carefully, use reason and logic to help you force the world to grow and develop to become as great and as strong as any other...so that when the final conflict comes to this world it shall be strong enough to withstand whatever evil is thrown at it..." Her eyes were pleading as she took Selphie's hands in her own. "Please child, accept the sacrifice that Hyne asks of you? Join us in the succession...when your time here is over you and the one who loves you best shall join us to spend eternity in Hyne's glory, his ever loyal and giving servants."   
  
The landscape about them grew dark suddenly, an ominous rumble filling the heavens.   
  
"My Lord calls me back, there is no more time...you must decide little one, serve...else the power shall consume you and you shall be as crazed and mad as those you yourself have battled." Embracing her gently the former sorceress, glorious and sublime walked towards a golden light that had opened up in the distance beyond them. "Choose well little one, and the strength and wisdom of all time shall be yours to bear...."   
  
It was dark; night had fallen when Selphie finally awoke. She sighed softly, realizing that the pain had finally left her...or at least abated enough that she felt well enough to rise. Letting the silk sheets slip from her skin, Irvine's hand falling limply to the mattress as she slid out from beneath his arm, she rose and crossed the room. Along one wall stood a full-length mirror and it was towards that that she moved. The marks on her face had finally developed fully. Turning her face from side to side she looked at them, delicate black tracings that barely brushed her cheekbones. Her eyes were a full golden color, bright and clear, her body nearly glowed with the force of cosmic power that suffused her tiny form. In her sleep the choice had been made and she had accepted the mantle of the sorceress.   
  
There had been no other choice really. On the one hand lay madness, where she would want only to use her power to destroy and maim as Adel and Ultimicia had. On the other was the full acceptance of her role as a representative of the order of darkness, serving Hyne to maintain the balance of an entire world. Few would understand her role, all would stand against her...but in the end...she would earn eternity with Irvine and for her that was all that mattered.   
  
She smiled softly as a pair of warm hands slid about her waist and came to rest against her belly, pulling her close from behind.   
  
"Hey there cowboy," she whispered softly her eyes seeking his in the reflection in the mirror, "I know what I have to do now." With one slender hand she covered his, leaning back against Irvine's bare chest. "The sorceress...the first sorceress...she told me what I have to do."   
  
Turning in his arms she embraced him, laying her cheek against the center of his chest so she could hear the steady beating of his heart. "The balance of our world is in danger...the only way...the only way to restore it is to have an other sorceress bring conflict so that the world can grow in strength. The sorceresses and the conflict they bring are as necessary to this world as the air we breathe."   
  
Slipping away she approached the closet and began sorting through the clothes within, casting aside the bright and carefree clothing she had once been so fond of. "We have to leave Irvy...at least...I do. I have a new role now, and out of love for you and everyone else, I have to go and fulfill my destiny as a sorceress. You don't have to come if you don't want to...but I will serve and the power of the line of sorceresses will be restored. Too long this world has destroyed them, never seeing the order and strength they bring. It's time for things to change...and I'm the one who can change them."   
  
She turned to face him, her face serious yet serene. "They're going to think I'm mad Irvy, they'll think I'm possessed and evil. It's true that I have chosen to serve darkness...but a servant is needed and I am the only one who can do it. It's necessary on a level that no one else can comprehend. If we're logical about this...we can bring a rebirth to this world without harming too many people. I don't like that I'm going to have to hurt people...but it IS necessary." Her face was imploring, vulnerable. "Will you help me? Will you be my knight...help me bring a new level of strength and...restoration to this world?" She smiled tentatively, "I need you Irvy, more than any other, I need you and your love..."

With an ease and sensuality he'd never seen before, Selphie pulled her soft nightshirt off, casting the tiny slip of yellow silk onto the floor. She had finally settled on an ensemble made entirely of black leather. The armored coat fit over a snug black vest, heavy boots that accentuated the curve of her slender legs reached to just below her knee. The entire outfit made her seem even smaller and sleeker than she had before, more dangerous and fell. Cocking one eyebrow at the man who stood across the room watching her, she watched as he grabbed his own clothes and shrugged into them quickly, opting for the new black trench coat instead of the older one that she had been so fond of. He placed his hat on his head and picked up Exeter; ready to follow wherever the newest sorceress was going to lead.   
  
"Ready then?" It seemed there was a note of regret in her voice as Selphie rounded the foot of the bed and took Irvine's hand in her own. Her golden eyes were moist and soft as she looked about their room one last time, a place where they had shared so much laughter and love; it had been her home. Garden had been her home, and it was time to say goodbye. Raising one tiny hand she cast the spell. The air in front of them shimmered and glimmered, an invisible whirlpool that would carry them to their first destination.   
  
"C'mon cowboy…we've got work to do."   
  
"Where're we goin' darlin'?" Irvine asked softly, curious as to what exactly was going through Selphie's mind. She was suddenly so changed. There was the determination that was all her own, but something else stirred within her…it was nothing he could put his finger on immediately but he could sense it, all a part of the still growing change within her.   
  
"We're going to Esthar. Part of the problem is that people think all this technology is going to keep them safe," Selphie led the way through the portal, holding Irvine's had tight in her own, "but they're wrong. Nothing can withstand the full onslaught of a sorceress. Laguna's either going to start disbanding all of that right now, or…"   
  
"Or else what?"   
  
Irvine blinked as the light suddenly changed. They had emerged in the presidential palace in Esthar, where the day was already begun. Standing outside the president's office Selphie stood quietly for a moment pondering his question.   
  
"Or else he'll have to answer to me. There's no option any longer. The people of this world need to learn how to defend themselves, to be strong. Survival of the fittest and all that. The advanced technology that they cower behind has to go."   
  
Irvine was about to say more when Selphie raised her hand again. The burst of fire that leapt from her palm was white hot. The doors before them, securely locked, ceased to exist, the frames smoking, filling Laguna Loire's office with a haze that snaked across the deep blue carpet, blanketing it from sight. The president had looked up startled, but remained sitting, regarding the small woman who entered his office with a mixture of perplexity and surprise. The woman looked something like Selphie Tilmit, save for the exotic black markings that trailed out of her hairline across pale cheeks and the large golden eyes that by rights should have been emerald green. She moved differently than the Selphie he knew as well, nearly gliding through the thick smoke, her eyes fastened on his the same way a predatory animal might watch it's prey. The man who followed her however, his own face void of expression was most definitely Irvine Kinneas.   
  
"S—Selphie? What's the meaning…"   
  
"Stow it Laguna." Selphie moved forward until she'd reaching the large desk. She perched on the edge and leaned across it, resting on her elbows so that she was eye to eye with Laguna. "Here's the deal…the planet's gone soft, what with their dependence on you and the Gardens to keep everyone safe and sound. Problem is…it's throwing the balance of good and evil way out of whack. You need to dismantle everything, the city shields, the lunar station, the sealing facilities…all of it."   
  
Laguna's eyes flicked to Irvine, his expression incredulous. "You can't be serious Selphie," his laugh was nervous, uncertain, "why don't you just tell me what's happened and I'll see…"   
  
"No Laguna." Shaking her head, Selphie closed her eyes for a moment, her expression beatific, "I don't think you fully realize just what it is I'm telling you. I AM the new sorceress. You don't have a choice here. You either do as I ask…or you suffer the consequences."   
  
It was just too much for him. Laguna was willing to go so far for people, but taking ultimatums from a slip of a girl who was as old as his son was not an acceptable option. His blue eyes sparked with anger as he began to rise from his seat, prepared to let Selphie know, despite his affection for her, that her demands were simply not going to be met. The people of Esthar had put their trust in him, to keep them safe from sorceresses and he wasn't about to back out on them.   
  
He never got the chance.   
  
Without another word Selphie reached over and caressed Laguna's cheek gently. "Ice." She whispered. His eyes went marginally wider as he realized too late what was happening and then it was over. Selphie slipped off the edge of the desk and looked at her handiwork. Laguna Loire stood, halfway out of his chair, leaning over his desk as if to shake his finger at someone, his body covered in a thick coat of ice.   
  
"Selphie, baby….did you kill Laguna?" Irvine regarded Selphie in awe.  
  
"Nope, I like him too much to do that. I just froze him. By the time Squall's figured out something's wrong with his dad and they've got him thawed out…we'll have done what we need to do here. He'll be fine. Pissed off as a bitebug no doubt, but fine. C'mon honey, we've things to destroy."

Irvine tipped his hat apologetically towards Laguna's frozen form, watching as Selphie's tiny hand leveled the side wall. Both became enveloped by the magic that now coursed through her veins and moved toward a better vantagepoint to begin their destructive efforts. He stood back, watching as the Esthar troops began to make their way toward the source of the explosion.   
  
"This widespread destruction is your thing, baby," he said as he pulled Exeter out and held it firmly in his hands. "I'll keep the riff raff from cluttering your work."   
  
He took the moment's pause to kiss her deeply, so in awe by the path she dared to take on her own that any more words were moot and pointless to the scenario. Her hands rose again to the air before her, the towers that generated the shields exploding one by one like dominos falling in an ordered pattern. The soldiers were making their way up the ramps and rafters, all falling down before they could get close to his love. The sounds of revolution echoed about them, metal shattering and creating patterns of light as each shard glistened in the setting sun.   
  
In retrospect, the war they waged was one of beauty in its design...

"I think that does it for this part of the city...and they'll have a terrible time keeping up." Taking Irvine's hand in hers once again Selphie created yet another portal and stepped through delicately. It was an amazing way to travel, not uncomfortable at all as she had often feared. Just the slightest tug against one's skin and then a new place appeared. She smiled in satisfaction at their new location and raised her hands once again.   
  
In the distance the shield generators could be seen smoking on the far side of the city. Across the skyways troops could be seen pouring towards the rising smoke, apparently still under the delusion that she was to be found in the vicinity. They were soon to find out how wrong they were. Selphie smiled as the power began to build up between her hands, the sky about them darkening as the spell built. With a roar, meteors came crashing down on the scientific research facility until nothing remained but a massive smoking hole in the ground.   
  
"Well now...that didn't take too much effort. I wonder what all Odine had in there?" Scratching the side of her head she shrugged lightly and turned away. "Oh well...if that took out Odine then everyone's in luck."   
  
Yet another portal appeared and Selphie turned, beckoning to Irvine with a coy smile playing across her lips.   
  
"What's say we go take care of that nasty ol' sealing facility once and for all...I know that I for one don't want to get sealed...then maybe if you're good...I'll take you someplace quiet for a bit." Her golden eyes sparkled brightly. "Would you like to see the castle that will be our new home? Hyne showed me where it is...each sorceress gets her own palace from which to work. Rinoa's was a terribly ugly place...but mine...mine's amazingly beautiful...what do you say cowboy mine?"


End file.
